Wisdom from Mr Microsoft himself

Bill Gates has proven he is not only the mastermind behind one of the biggest software companies and a great philanthropist, but also a bit of a dude who is popular with the Kids These Days.

UnderCurrent spotted the former chief executive and current chairman of Microsoft on the popular news and entertainment website Reddit this morning, showing off his common touch. William Henry Gates III took to the site, known as “the front page of the internet”, to conduct an Ask Me Anything (AMA) session and answer questions from redditors.

UnderCurrent couldn’t resist the opportunity to look inside one of the biggest minds in consumer electronics in the past generation. Here are our favourite Q&As:

Q: What emerging technology today do you think will cause another big stir for the average consumer in the same way that the home computer did years ago?
Bill Gates: Robots, pervasive screens, speech interaction will all change the way we look at "computers". Once seeing, hearing, and reading (including handwriting) work very well you will interact in new ways.

Q: What type of computer are you using right now?
BG: I just got my Surface Pro a week ago and it is very nice. I am using a Perceptive Pixel display right now – huge Windows 8 touch whiteboard. These will come down in price over time and be pervasive…

Q: Windows 7 or Windows 8? Be honest Bill.
BG: Higher is better.

Q: How was your relationship with Steve jobs?
BG: He and I respected each other. Our biggest joint project was the Mac where Microsoft had more people on the project than Apple did as we wrote a lot of applications. I saw Steve regularly over the years including spending an afternoon with him a few months before he tragically passed away…

Q: What do you do for fun?
BG: I love playing tennis. I am an avid bridge player (a card game if you have not heard of it – it was more popular in the past!). I like to tour interesting things with my kids like power plants, garbage dumps, the Large Hadron Collider, Antarctica, missile Silos (Arizona),… I read a lot and watch courses (online or the Learning Company).

Q: Is Weezer still your favorite band?
BG: Weezer…. Actually U2 is a favorite. I keep waiting for Spinal Tap to go back on tour…